


Red Hands

by Smalls2233



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, M/M, Vampire!Reaper, Van Helsing!McCree
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 13:52:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13078239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smalls2233/pseuds/Smalls2233
Summary: It was supposed to be an easy hunt. In the small town on the edge of the Black Forest, reports had surfaced of a small coven of vampires that had taken residence in an abandoned keep. Nothing Jesse and Gabriel hadn’t taken care of before.---The story of a hunter who lost everything.





	Red Hands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WolvenHighblood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolvenHighblood/gifts).



> Beta'd by [Nukawinter](https://twitter.com/nukawinters)  
> Prompt: "Something related to Gabe's new Vamp skin"

“Let me tell you a story,” Jesse drawled as he looked around the small gathering of Overwatch and Blackwatch agents. It was Christmas Eve and they were gathered together, eventually, as liquor flowed freely, it had devolved into demands for Jesse and Reinhardt to tell stories. Reinhardt had just finished his, and Jesse was near snoring by the end of it. So he wanted to tell a story that would bring a little excitement to the intimate gathering, “It’s about a hunter who lost everythin’—“

“Pah!” Reinhardt scoffed, sloshing beer around as he waved his hand in dismissal. “This is child’s play, McCree!”

“Let the kid tell his story, Rein,” Jack raised an eyebrow as he took a slow sip of his spiked hot chocolate. “Don’t let your little story rivalry get out of hand.”

“I don’t tell stories,” Reinhardt protested. “I tell legends!”

“Same difference,” Jesse snorted. “Now, as I was sayin’, this is the story of a man who devoted his adult life to hunting monsters. As a child he ran alongside them, promised one day that he would become one.” Jesse paused for a moment to take a drink of his warm cider spiked with caramel vodka, a suggestion from Angela. “He was rescued from that life when he was almost eighteen by a man who would become his husband — they were happy. But, like all good things, that came to an end when a coven of bloodsuckers got the drop on them—“

___

It was supposed to be an easy hunt. In the small town on the edge of the Black Forest, reports had surfaced of a small coven of vampires that had taken residence in an abandoned keep. It was nothing Jesse and Gabriel hadn’t taken care of before.

The town was near abandoned as the two hunters rode in in the early morning. Although smoke rose from the chimneys of a small number of houses, the streets were empty. No sounds of children playing echoed, no merchants peddled wares on the street corners.

“I don’t like this, Gabe,” Jesse murmured as they rode in. “It might be too late for this town.”

Gabriel hummed, “Maybe, but let’s see if we can find the town hall, talk to whoever’s running things around here.”

Jesse chewed on his unlit cigar as he thought, “Back when I ran with the pack, we had seen a few towns like this. Gabriel, I have a bad feelin’ about this.”

“It’s early, if you still have a bad feeling about this come the afternoon, Jess, we’ll leave,” Gabriel said slowly. The  _ clip clop _ of their horses’ hooves echoed throughout the abandoned streets. “I trust your judgement, but this is just a small coven.”

Jesse scratched at his beard, “I’m not sure if what we’ve been told is accurate, love. This reeks of a mid or large size coven to—“ he cut himself off and hopped off his horse. “There were wolves here, Gabe,” he said as he ran his hand over claw marks that were carved deep into the wood of an abandoned house.

Gabriel rode closer to him, “What does this mean?”

“I don’t know,” Jesse murmured. “The pack never would have run with leeches — if one got on our territory, the alpha and his guard immediately slaughtered it. Most wolves are like that, they don’t get on well with vamps.”

“So do you think that the bloodsuckers cleared out the werewolves that were here before. Or the other way around?”

Jesse frowned, “I’m not sure. Somethin’s off, sweetheart. Let’s find the town hall, I’ve got some questions I want answered.”

The two hunters road through the near abandoned town until they found the town hall. Jesse made mental notes of each sign of werewolves. There were scratches and marks on nearly every building, like a large fight had happened recently. A large fight that was completely unreported.

“Gabe, looking at the scale of this, it had to have been a large pack. Have there been any updates on the European packs, anything that would suggest any type of movement or just  _ somethin _ ’ that explains this?”

Gabriel pursed his lips, “Not that I’ve heard of. But this is strange, we would have heard of a confrontation of this size — packs don’t move unnoticed, don’t fight unnoticed.”

“Who told you about this town, Gabriel?” Jesse asked slowly. “I’m feeling like we might be walkin’ into a trap.”

“An old acquaintance,” Gabriel ran his hand through the mane of his horse as he thought. “Akande Ogundimu, I knew his master.”

“Knew?” Jesse asked.

“He was killed in a—“ Gabriel cut himself off and his eyes went wide. “He was killed by a coven of vampires.”

Jesse swore, “Did you do anything to piss this Akande fella off?”

“We haven’t talked in years,” Gabriel’s jaw was stiff. “The only thing I could think of is us taking some high profile bounties that maybe he wanted.”

They stopped in front of what looked to be the old town hall and shared a dark look as they examined the building. It was the worst damaged by far from whatever battle had raged in the small town, however a flickering light — the biggest sign of life the hunters had seen yet — prevailed behind the window glass. They tied their horses to a fence post and grabbed their packs and weapons, a large crossbow for Jesse and dual hand cannons for Gabriel, along with several silver tipped stakes, and headed towards the building.

The front porch of the town hall creaked ominously as Gabriel took his first step onto it with heavy boots. It was the loudest sound and felt like it echoed for miles. Jesse winced, if there were any enemies waiting for them in the town hall, they now knew the two hunters were there for sure.

Jesse’s spurs jangled on the rotting wood as he walked forward to stand next to Gabriel. They shared a look and Gabriel nodded slightly before Jesse rapped on the door with the knuckles of a few fingers.

There was silence for a moment and then the sound of hesitant footsteps. A panel on the top of the door opened, revealing a pair of green eyes. “Who are you?” The woman asked, voice tense. “We don’t get visors here.”

Jesse looked to Gabriel who said, “We’re with the Hunters Guild.”

“It’s too late to help this town,” the woman said quietly. “I don’t know who sent you, but there’s only a few of us left.”

“Can we come in?” Jesse asked gently. “See if we can’t at least figure out a way to evacuate the last of y’all?”

The woman closed her eyes and let out a sigh, “You need to leave as quickly as you can, but I’ll let you talk to my father and the other hunter who tried to help.”

Jesse and Gabriel shared another look, an entire conversation held in the tilt of heads, the narrowing of eyes. Every inch of Jesse’s body was hypersensitive, he had a knack for knowing when there was danger. And the town they were in reeked if it.

The woman opened the door, revealing a pretty, strong woman in her early twenties with auburn hair. “My name’s Brigitte,” she introduced herself and held out a hand. “I wish we met under happier circumstances but…”

“I’m Gabriel, my partner is McCree,” Gabriel grabbed her hand. “What happened here?”

Brigitte sighed through her nose, “Papa can explain better, but the long and short of it is that we got overrun by vamps who came from the north. There’s an ancient keep on the edge of town, they holed up there and have been clearing us out ever since.”

“How many people are left?”

Brigitte’s jaw was tight, “Not a lot.” Jesse’s eyes were drawn to the way she rubbed nervously at her arm. He nudged Gabriel to try and draw his attention to it. He couldn’t place it, but the way she rubbed at it made a memory flicker in his gut. “We’ve tried near everything to kill the bloodsuckers.”

She led them into a small hall with a fire roaring in the hearth. There were two men sitting there, a man who could have been a half giant, and another who could have been a full blooded dwarf. “This is my father, Torbjörn, and a hunter, Reinhardt,” she motioned to the men.

“Gabriel Reyes and Jesse McCree,” Gabriel store forward, hand extended. “We’re with the guild, had heard of this town.”

“I’d say it’s a pleasure, but under these circumstances...” Torbjörn shook Gabriel’s hand. “I was the mayor of this town.”

“Would you like a drink?” Reinhardt asked, standing up. His massive frame seemed even bigger standing.

“That would be fantastic,” Gabriel said. “What happened to this town?”

Reinhardt looked sadly at Gabriel as he grabbed them drinks, “My entire order was wiped out,” he said, his voice mournful. “I’m a man of hope, but there is none left for this town.” He extended the large tankards of beer to the two hunters who took them with small thanks.

“What happened?” Jesse asked as he took a sip of the beer. “There’s the signs of a skirmish between a large pack of lycanthropes and the bloodsuckers. But none of the big European packs have even been ‘round this area recently, at least no reports of it.”

Torbjörn, Brigitte, and Reinhardt all shared a look. “We’ve tried everything,” Torbjörn said. Jesse’s jaw tightened as distrust boiled in his gut. “There were some smaller packs in the area, we tried enlisting even  _ their _ help.”

“What did you do?” Jesse hissed and looked to Gabriel. He tried reaching for his stakes but his hands were frozen. Why did he accept that drink?

“There was a man who said that he would help us,” Brigitte’s voice was the barest whisper. “That two hunters would come, and if we surrendered them to the vampires, he would strip the curse from our veins.” She pulled down the glove that covered her lower arm, revealing a bite mark.

Werewolves.

“He’s going to kill you,” Gabriel said darkly. Jesse was paralyzed and his vision was starting to go fuzzy around the edges. “There’s no way to strip lycanthropy from you unless it’s silver through your heart.”

“He has a way,” Torbjörn said firmly. “This is our only option.” He said something more, but Jesse didn’t quite catch it as he faded completely into nothingness.

\---

“So these are professional hunters that have been doing this their entire lives, and they still took drinks from strangers in a suspicious town?” Angela cocked a brow as she looked at Jesse.

“Hush now,” Jesse waved her off with a laugh. “I need somethin’ to get to what happens next. Suspend your disbelief.”

“I can’t help it if there’s big holes in your story,” Angela teased.

“Quiet, you witch,” Jesse grinned. “And let me get back to my story because this is still just the beginnin’.”

\---

When Jesse came to, his legs and arms were bound and the sun was setting. His head was pounding as he tried to get a handle on his surroundings — he was somewhere in the forest, though he didn’t know where. Gabriel was bound and about fifty feet away. Their weapons were nowhere to be found.

“ _ Gabe _ ,” Jesse hissed. They needed to get out of there before the sun set fully.

“I’m gonna kill Akande,” Gabriel growled and sat up. “How tightly bound are you?”

Jesse flexed to try and feel the tension of the ropes, “Give me like ten minutes and I could probably wiggle out, but…” he looked at the sliver of sky visible through the trees. “I’m not sure if we have that.”

“We have about an hour and a half,” Gabriel said slowly. “They won’t be able to come out until it’s fully dark, and even then it takes them a moment to get moving.”

“That ain’t enough time for us to get out of here,” Jesse said. He tried feeling around behind himself for any sharp rock he could use to cut his ropes.

“No, but it gives us time to make weapons,” Gabriel replied. “We’re gonna have to fight for our lives, Jess.”

Jesse let out a shaky breath, “Gabe, I don’t think we’re gonna make it.”

There was silence for a moment. Silence that stretched beyond even Gabriel’s closed mouth. It was as if the very forest itself was dead. There was nothing, no sounds of birds, no wind blowing through the late autumn, nearly winter trees. Just dead, unbroken silence. And then finally Gabriel said, voice the faintest whisper, “I know.”

The hunters managed to untie themselves and form basic, rudimentary weapons, but it took the better part of an hour. By the time they were finished, the light of the sun was faint and fading fast. Jesse stared into the dark recesses of the forest, he wondered if they could run, if they could escape. He swallowed back the lump of fear in his throat and tried to put the image of death out of his mind. Of all the hunters who had died. 

“Jesse,” Gabriel said softly and put a hand on Jesse’s cheek, it almost managed to pull him free from his thoughts. “I love you, I love you more than anything.”

Jesse let out a shaky breath, the lives of hunters were dangerous; many of their friends had died young. But with Gabriel he had always felt invincible. Even before Gabriel, when he ran with the pack, he felt the same. But the fragility of his life came crashing down on him all at once. “Gabe,” Jesse wrapped his arms tightly around Gabriel. “You are the best thing to ever happen to me, I love you so much.”

They stayed like that for as long as they could risk it, holding each other close. It was for the last time, they both knew there was no way in hell that both of them would leave that damn forest alive.

The vampires came when the last of the color had faded from the sky. Gabriel and Jesse stood back to back, clutching their rough stakes. More were spread across the clearing they had holed up in. They both knew it was useless, that they were bound to end up as a meal for the bloodsuckers. Jesse didn’t even want to consider the worse possibility, that the bloodsuckers knew that they were hunters, that they had killed hundreds of their kind before and the vamps decided to take revenge by shifting them. Turn them into the monsters they had devoted their lives into killing.

The silence of the forest broke when the first vampire descended upon the hunters. It was a gaunt, starving creature. Its pale skin nearly sloughed off its face, unhealing sores were all over its body.

“It’s starving,” Gabriel muttered to Jesse. It wasn’t unusual for large covens to send their weakest members out first, they were the easiest to kill, but they were like bloodhounds, they latched easily into the scent of human blood and could track it for miles. Stronger vamps would be close behind it.

The vampire snarled as it closed in on the hunters. Its bony hands were tipped in claw-like nails and its eyes were milky and clouded. Completely blind and reliant on scent and sound.

Jesse held his breath, not daring to make the smallest noise. There was a chance that the vampire wouldn't be able to find them, that it would move on. But that chance was slim to none, and Jesse silently prayed as the vamp got closer and closer. He hadn’t felt this powerless since his parents had been killed by vampires, since he was adopted into the pack 

But Jesse’s luck, whatever little of it he had, ran out. The bloodsucker made a hissing wail and faced the hunters. It noticed them, and its wail had been a call. A notifier that it had found two new bags of blood.

Gabriel and Jesse swore as they leveled their makeshift stakes at the vamp. It hissed loudly as it circled them, massive fangs barred and fingers flexed.

Jesse made the first move, a simple, controlled swing with the stake. It tore through the paper thin skin of the vamp’s face, the already loose flesh fell completely off to reveal bloodless muscle and bones — a horrifying sight, but one Jesse had seen countless times before. 

If the vampire felt pain, it made no sign of it. Instead, it just kept coming, swinging its claw-like nails at Jesse who barely dodged and moved, landing the stake right through the center of the vampire’s chest. Immediately, the monster dissolved into ash around the stake with an unearthly screech.

One weak vampire down and an unknown amount were still standing and doubtlessly notified of their presence.

Jesse screwed his eyes shut and let out a shuddering breath. This was how he was going to die. Overwhelmed by a horde of vampires. He always knew that being a hunter would lead to his death, but he had never expected it to end like this.

His heart pounded in his chest as the next of the vampires descended. These were no blind, half dead monsters. No, they looked as healthy as a vampire could look. Dark, black veins traced up their pale necks, their eyes were sunken and black. But their skin was firm with no sores or lesions, their eyes sharp as they stared, smug, at the hunters.

Gabriel threw one of his stakes at a vamp, the sharpened wood landed straight through its heart and it dissolved into a puff of ash. The vampires charged as soon as the stake pierced the other’s heart. There were five of them with more coming.

Jesse ducked down to avoid the claws of one, but he ran right into the knee of another. The air was ripped from his lungs and he curled in on himself in a defensive position until he could catch his breath.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Gabriel wasn’t faring much better. Although Gabriel excelled at close range combat, three more bloodsuckers had joined in on the fight — blind, mindless, starving beasts. 

The sheer number of vampires was overwhelming.

Gabriel managed to stake another vamp, but one of the whelps had got a lucky strike in. Deep gashes ran along Gabriel’s neck as the whelp dug its claws through the thin skin.

The scent of blood drew the vampires surrounding Jesse away and Jesse could only stare in horror as all of the vamps converged around Gabriel.

“ _ Run _ , Jesse,” Gabriel barked.

“ _ Gabe _ ,” Jesse’s voice was a choked whisper as Gabriel tried to fight off the vampires, stake in one hand, the other wrapped around the bleeding gash in his neck.

“Get out of here,” Gabriel’s voice cracked as he screamed. “Jesse, don’t die here.”

Tears pooled in Jesse’s eyes as he took a step backwards. Gabriel was still fighting, but his swings were growing weaker, his movements more sluggish as he lost more blood. “I love you,” Jesse whispered, voice thick. And then, like a cowardly dog with his tail between his legs, he ran as the vampires finally overwhelmed Gabriel. The sounds of the vampires feeding merged with the screams of pain that fell from Gabriel’s lips to become a nightmarish symphony.

Jesse didn’t know how long he ran for, but only that at some point he reached the deathtrap of a town without seeing hide nor hair of any more vampires.

All of them too busy feeding from his husband.

A choked sob left Jesse’s lips as he saw Gabriel’s horse walking untethered with his own. Their packs were untouched despite somebody cutting the animals free.

The horses must have noticed him, as they trotted closer to him. Jesse began to openly weep as Gabriel’s gentle mare, named Reaper in an attempt to harden her, nosed at his shoulder. As if she was asking where her owner was.

Jesse cried until he physically could cry no longer. And when his eyes were completely dried, he set about taking all he could from Gabriel’s packs — all of his half drafted letters, his pages of notes, the pouches of coin. There were small keepsakes as well, a ring from an old friend, a saved letter from his mother, all things that were small, but sentimental.

Tears that Jesse didn’t know he had left welled up in his eyes as he found something that he didn’t know Gabriel had kept. It was a large badge in the symbol of the pack that Jesse had surrendered to Gabriel years after Gabriel had tore him from it. He had given it to Gabriel as a sign of loyalty, that he was no longer loyal to the wolves that raised him.

Jesse thought Gabriel had tossed it. Hadn’t known he had kept it, wrapped in a soft, protective leather.

Jesse forced his tears to dry as he clipped the badge in place on his long coat. Gabriel had kept it safe for him, and Jesse would wear it in memory of his husband. In thanks that he had kept it safe, kept it treasured for so many years.

Jesse tucked the letters and trinkets from Gabriel into his own saddlebags and gave Reaper’s mane one last, gentle stroke. He wished he could keep her with him, but it would have been impossible. So he used the horse as his final way to say goodbye to his husband.

“I’m sorry, Gabriel,” Jesse whispered as he tangled his fingers in Reaper’s soft mane. “I’m so, so sorry.” His voice cracked on the final word and Reaper nosed gently at his forehead with her velvety nose.

He stayed like that for as long as he dared, muttering apologies to Gabriel that Jesse knew would never reach his ears. But Jesse knew that he had to move forward, to not waste the chance at life Gabriel had given him. So he steeled himself, and swore that he would return to the small town on the edge of the Black Forest and slaughter all the vampires that inhabited the hellish keep. That he would kill Akande, take revenge for his husband.

Jesse hopped onto his horse, heart cold and determined, and he began to ride off as the moon dipped lower in the sky, and eventually a new day began.

\---

“So Jesse,” Jack said slowly as Jesse trailed off from his story to pour a mug of hot chocolate and add a healthy dash of liquor to it. “You wanna explain how exactly this is a Christmas story?”

“It’ll get there,” Jesse waved Jack’s concerns off. “It’s about December first on the night the hunter’s husband was killed by the vampires. It’ll reach Christmas eventually in the story.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed, “That doesn’t make it a Christmas story.”

“Hey Jack, what’s your favorite Christmas movie?” Gabriel asked as he strolled into the room. He was several hours late to the party, but that wasn’t anything unusual. Jesse couldn’t think of a holiday party that Jack threw in his stupidly large mansion that Gabriel  _ wasn’t  _ late for. Halloween he was always putting on finishing touches for his costumes. Every other holiday he was working until the last minute — black ops organizations didn’t stop running just because Jesus was born.

“ _ Die Hard _ , why?” Jack replied and scooted over on the couch to give Gabriel room to sit next to Jesse.

“I’ll let you think about why I’m asking that while we let McCree finish his story,” Gabriel grinned. He grabbed the bottle of peppermint schnapps from the table and forwent the hot chocolate, instead he opted to catch up with everybody who had casually been sitting and drinking for the better part of three hours by downing a shot of it. 

“Well,” Jesse said after Gabriel slammed back the shot. “Guess that settles that. So back to the story, the hunter travelled around the world for years, slayin’ any monster he had come against with reckless abandon. As if he were chasing death, yet it still eluded him. But everything changed one day when he came across a demon…”

\---

Six years had passed since Gabriel had been killed. Six years of traveling the world both hoping for death and hoping for revenge. Akande had proven elusive, every lead Jesse had gotten to his whereabouts had led to a dead end.

He was desperate and filled with rage. The hunter’s guild had exiled him after the death of Gabriel. Akande had pinned the blame onto him, so Jesse had become both the hunter and the hunted.

He had sworn when he joined Gabriel that he would never kill another human, only monsters. But humans and monsters started feeling less and less different as more hunters tried to kill him. His hands dripped with both the crimson blood of humans and the dark blood of beasts. 

He felt aged beyond his thirty seven years. Everywhere he looked he saw the ghost of Gabriel, the guilt of leaving sat heavy on his shoulders.

He should have forced Gabriel to leave at the first gut feeling of  _ wrong. _

He should have never accepted the drink.

He should have died instead of Gabriel.

He should have, he should have, he should have…

The only time the guilt left him was when he drowned himself in liquor. It led to him stumbling drunk, hands barely steady enough to fire his crossbow when he fought with monsters.

So when the demon appeared in front of him, he wasn’t sure if it was a guilt induced, drunken hallucination or if it were real. But he still leveled his crossbow in front of him anyway, pointed straight at the apparition.

“Put the weapon down, hunter,” the demon narrowed her odd colored eyes at him. Jesse’s jaw tightened and he readjusted his grip on the weapon, refusing to lower it. The demon snapped her fingers and the crossbow disappeared.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” she said as she stared at him. “In fact, I’m here to propose something to you that you’re sure to find agreeable.”

“I don’t make deals with demon,” Jesse growled, words slurred from alcohol. He still didn’t fully believe the demon in front of him was real.

“Do you have anything left to lose?” The demon asked. “You’ve lost everything, I could grant you power beyond anything you could ever imagine.”

“No, Jesse growled.

“You could take revenge on Akande,” the demon whispered.

Interest flickered in Jesse, but he forced himself to quell it. The demon was probably a hallucination, but even if she were real, he didn’t need to make a deal with a demon. “I can take revenge on him on my  _ own _ .”

“I’d give you the power to destroy the vampires that slaughtered your husband,” the demon ignored him. “Tear their unbeating hearts from their bodies, let them feel pain as you slaughter them unlike any vampire before. 

Jesse couldn’t help but imagine that — couldn’t stifle his interest, couldn’t stomp out the embers of rage that threatened to ignite. There was no way that he could have taken a coven of vamps on his own, not without dying.

The demon seemed to notice his struggle. She leaned forward and stroked at Jesse’s chin with the backs of clawed fingers, a mocking twist of a lover's touch, “I would give you everything you needed, everything you wanted.”

Jesse couldn’t stop the question that spilled from his lips, “What would you want in exchange?”

The demon smiled like the cat that caught the canary, “Nothing,” she whispered.

Jesse’s eyes narrowed, “Demons always want somethin’ in return.”

“I don’t,” she shrugged and moved her fingers away from his jaw to run along his left arm. “I would take is your arm but I would replace it, make you something more.”

If Jesse had been more sober, if the demon hadn’t struck such a sore point, he would have considered her words more carefully. Would have heard the promise in them that he wouldn’t make it out entirely Human. But he wasn’t, and he didn’t. 

Instead he stared the demon straight in her eyes and whispered, “Fine.”

The demon smiled, revealing sharp, white teeth. “In eighteen years on the day where families sit by the hearth and feast,” she said softly as she stroked his arm. “Return to the town you lost your Gabriel in with two allies you’ll have long thought dead. Walk amongst its ruins, past the ivy growing, over the bodies littered about, and enter the keep. In there, you’ll find what you’re looking for. And with my gift to you, you’ll be able to achieve your goal.”

“Who are the allies?” Jesse asked, but before he could respond, a blinding flash of pain knocked him out.

\---

“Sounds like this hunter makes pretty bad decisions,” Gabriel said, amusement lit up his eyes as he stared at Jesse.

“Would’ve fit right in with Blackwatch,” Jack laughed softly. 

Jesse shrugged, “Gotta go with what you know.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow while Angela snickered, “So you’re telling me you know about hunting vampires and making deals with demons?”

“I mean, he  _ did _ cut a deal with you to get out of jail,” Angela grinned.

Jesse laughed loudly, “Well, you ain’t wrong, Angie.”

“I tend to be right,” Angela shrugged, a wide grin was still plastered on her face.

“Get on with the story, McCree,” Reinhardt said and Jesse held back a laugh at how invested he seemed. For all the shit they threw at each other while telling stories, when they really got into the tale, the other would always listen intently.

“Alright, alright,” Jesse held up his hands. “Not much happened to the hunter in the eighteen years between makin’ the deal and returnin’ to the town. He noticed changes, he didn’t need much sleep, didn’t eat much. Alcohol didn’t affect him any longer either. He had no way to ask the demon about the changes as he never saw her again. It was both a blessin’ and a curse because in those years of wanderin’ he still was no closer to finding out who those two dead allies were until five days until he was supposed to return to the town.”

\---

Jesse watched as snow fell heavily while he sat on a train. It was no passenger train, nobody would sell tickets to a man with a hellfire arm as himself— even if he did keep it covered by gloves that reached his biceps. No, instead of a comfortable seat, he was sat next to piles of grain and hay in the freezing cold.

Over the years, he hadn’t aged a single day. Despite being in his mid fifties, he still looked thirty seven. Wrinkles lined his face, but not as many as should have and few gray hairs touched his hair. It made time pass strangely, almost like each year that passed was a dream that didn’t affect him.

But it was no dream, the cold hellfire that made up his arm was proof enough of that. 

Jesse took a slow drag of his cigarette, his last one. He ached for a cigar, but they had become hard for him to come by, hell, so had cigarettes.

Jesse closed his eyes and leaned back against the scratchy hay behind him. He was still hours out from his destination, the border between Germany and France. He knew that the train would slow down enough around there for him to be able to safely jump off and make his way across Germany. Sleeping would make the time in the rickety old train pass faster than being left alone with his thoughts, even if he could barely sleep for more than an hour or two at a time those days.

The cigarette between his lips burned low and Jesse took one last, slow drag of it before he crushed it in his hellfire hand. The entire cigarette disintegrated on contact with the hellfire and when Jesse opened his hand up again, a pile of cold ash drifted slowly to the ground.

Jesse sighed softly as he adjusted his position to something more comfortable, tipped his hat over his eyes, and drifted off into a light, fitful sleep.

About an hour and a half after he closed his eyes, Jesse woke with a start at the sound of an explosion. He swore as the old train shook and came to a shuddering stop. Jesse grabbed his crossbow and ran out of the stopped train car to see if he could figure out what happened. His glove to cover his arm laid on the floor, forgotten in his panic.

Jesse’s breath came out in thick white puffs as he stood outside in the cold. The snow was nearly a foot deep next to the tracks and was still coming down heavily, almost completely whiting out everything.

A second blast rocked his world and his ears rang loudly. His eyes scanned the snow covered land, trying to see if he could pinpoint any movement.

A bullet whizzed past Jesse’s head and he turned to face the sound of the gunshot. He knew he had about thirty seconds before his assailant could fire again so he moved fast.

As he charged forward, a second bullet shot through the brim of his hat from the opposite direction of the first. Either whoever attacking him was supernaturally fast or there were two assailants.

As he got closer to where he had heard the first shot come from, he could begin to make out a hazy shape. All he could see was a black mask covering the lower half of his face and some darker colors on his outfit. The rest was nearly invisible in the dying daylight and heavy snow.

Jesse was on the man before he could line up another shot with his musket. They tussled in the snow for several long moments, Jesse got in several good punches to the stranger’s jaw, had slammed his head against a rock. But he too took hits, several right in his stomach, winding him.

The stranger managed to come out on top for all of ten seconds, he held Jesse down and shoved his face in the freezing snow. But Jesse bucked up and threw him off. Snow was matted in his hair and beard as he staggered over to where the stranger was trying to get up.  _ Why don’t we see who you are _ , Jesse thought to himself as he slammed a punch straight at the stranger’s strong jaw and removed the black fabric that covered his lower face.

Jesse’s eyes widened and he gasped softly as he took in the face of the man below him. The years that passed showed on his face, he was no longer the golden haired young man Jesse remembered, and ugly, deep, ragged scars marred his face. But there was no mistaking him.

“How are you alive?” Jesse whispered as he stared at Jack Morrison. “I saw you— we all saw you die.”

Jack had been mauled by a pack of werewolves. Jesse had seen him flayed in front of him.

Jack stared at him as cold recognition flashed on his face, “McCree?” He asked, voice rough and ruined. “How— you haven’t aged.”

“Two allies you’ve long thought dead,” Jesse muttered to himself under his breath as he stood up. That had to have meant Jack, but who else?

Another shot rang out and grazed Jesse’s coat. He swore, the shock of seeing Jack again had made him forget about the other person out there. He dropped to the ground while Jack stood up and screamed hoarsely, “Stop shooting, he’s not a danger.”

“How are you alive?” Jack asked as he stared down at Jesse. “It’s been almost thirty years but you look like you’ve barely aged?”

“How are  _ you  _ alive?” Jesse shot the question back to him, not wanting to get into the ‘Made a deal with a demon and for some reason because of it I haven’t aged in nearly two decades’ business. Not to mention, he  _ was  _ curious. There was no way that Jack could have survived — not with the way the wolves had gnawed on him, the way his blood had stained the snow around him a dark crimson.

“Are you still with the guild?” Jack asked, voice guarded.

“Do I look like I’m still with the guild?” Jesse asked darkly, his eyes flitted to his glowing arm.

“No, I guess you don’t,” Jack’s gaze also went to Jesse’s arm. He took a deep breath, “I’m a werewolf. I don’t know how I survived the mauling, but I did and have the scars to prove it.”

Jesse’s mind flashed back to twenty four years previous, to the werewolves in league with Akande out of desperation, “Who are you workin’ with?” He asked, suspicious.

“Why do you need to know?” Jack asked, his voice dripped in equal suspicion.

“If you’re workin’ with Akande you and I are gonna both see what this arm does to a werewolf,” Jesse ground out.

Jack stared blankly at him, “Why would I be working with Akande?”

“Because he’s been after me for years and wants me dead?”

“Akande tried to have me killed,” a woman’s voice said and Jesse twisted around to get a better view of her. A mask shaped like an owl covered her face and she wore a long coat decorated in owl’s feathers. Jesse clenched his fists and gasped softly in surprise as she removed the mask. Much like Jack, she had aged, but she was just as beautiful as she had been decades ago when she still sailed the seas. “He nearly succeeded,” Ana Amari continued. “But an Amari is hard to bring down, even if you have the power of demons on your side.” She stared at Jesse’s arm for an uncomfortably long time before asking, “So McCree, tell me, are  _ you  _ allied with Akande?”

Jesse clenched his jaw, “It’s his fault Gabriel is dead. Why would I ally myself with him?”

“Why would you ally yourself with a demon?” Ana asked in response.

“I ain’t allied with a demon,” Jesse growled. “She didn’t ask for nothin’ more than my arm. No loyalty, no nothing.”

Ana stared at Jesse with narrowed eyes, “What did she say?”

“I don’t remember,” Jesse replied.

“How do you not remember?” Jack asked.

“I was dead drunk and it was nearly twenty years ago,” Jesse snapped. “All I remember was that she wasn’t askin’ for my soul, wasn’t askin’ for a favor.” He took a deep breath, “The main thing that I remember is she had told me to wait eighteen years until I returned to Eichenwald and that I’d need two allies I thought were dead in order to find what I was lookin’ for.”

“What are you looking for?” Jack asked softly.

“The bloodsuckers that murdered Gabe,” Jesse said darkly. “And I’m thinkin’ that you’re the two allies I thought were dead.”

\---

Jesse stood up, “Give me a tic, I’m gettin’ another cookie.”

Angela made a face, “Jesse, you’re getting up to do that  _ now _ ?”

Jesse shrugged, “Morrison’ll be happy to have a break from my ‘apparently not a Christmas story’ story.”

Jack frowned, “It’s a good story but all I’m saying is that it’d be better fit at the Halloween party.”

Jesse made a noncommittal grunt as he shoved a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth and grabbed a few more. Being honest to himself, he just wanted to ramp up the suspense in the story to the small crowd that had gathered around him. He was nothing if not a showman after all.

“You better be grabbing some cookies for me,” Gabriel called at Jesse.

“Get your own, asshole,” Jesse grumbled back.

“Why else would I have you as my second hand man if it weren’t to grab me cookies?”

“Because I give a hell of a bl—“ Jesse was cut off as a well aimed wad of marshmallows his him right in the side of his face. “Who the hell threw that?” He snapped.

“Stop goofing around and get back to the story,” Ana said, a bag of marshmallows laid beside her, suspiciously empty for being next to somebody that didn’t eat marshmallows.

“Fine, fine,” Jesse grumbled as he walked back to the couch with a teetering tower of cookies. Before Jesse could stop him, Gabriel snagged half of the cookies.

“Now where was I?” Jesse asked, munching on a cookie. “Right, the hunter had teamed up with the old soldier and the corsair.”

\---

Jesse had been guarded with Ana and Jack as they travelled. As much as he had wanted to be friendly with them, to catch up, he had a hard time fully trusting anyone. Every time he tried opening up or to talk casually with his old friends, the words stuck in his throat. Worries over what ifs played through his head on repeat.

It had been too long since he had the company of another person. The decades of isolation had taken their toll on him. As they rode on horses, ate meat, and cleaned weapons, all stolen from the train, Jesse could only watch with envy that boiled in his gut at how easily and casually Jack and Ana conversed.

And he would be lying to himself if he hadn’t been the least bit envious of the fact that their ages showed. They were no longer young, their movements were stiffer and slow than they had been decades before. But they weren’t masquerading as somebody young, and Jesse wished that were him. That he had physical proof on his face that time had passed.

“What do you do on the full moon?” Jesse managed to ask one night as they rode across the snowy forest. He didn’t know where the question came from, but he couldn’t help but ask. He had memories of from when he was a child and ran with Deadlock, how the wolves would force him to unreachable places on the full moon so they wouldn’t tear him apart. 

Jack stared at him with weary eyes, “Ana shackles me and drugs me up enough to force me to sleep through it.”

“So you’re just a beast then?”

“On the full moon, yes,” Jack shrugged as he stared at the freshly fallen snow in front of him. “I can control myself outside of it, but I try to avoid that form as much as I can.”

Jesse grunted out a response, unsure of what else he could say to Jack. Besides the first conversation he had with Ana and Jack days earlier, that was the longest conversation he had in years.

The rest of the journey was spent in near silence by Jesse. He didn’t know what else to ask, any questions from Ana or Jack were met by grunts or single word replies by him. 

The weather didn’t help any either, as they continued to ride, the snow began to fall heavily. Anxiety boiled in Jesse’s gut as the visibility began to fall and the temperature plummeted. He slowed his horse down, planning on calling for a halt for the day. There was no way they were going to be able to keep moving without getting lost. 

Jack stopped his horse in front of them, “Hold on,” he called,Jesse and Ana both stopped their horses as well. “I don’t know how bad this storm is going to get, but if we’re gonna make it to Eichenwald by Christmas, we need to keep moving forward.”

“Jack, it’s too dangerous to keep moving,” Ana said. “We need to stop for the night.”

“Tie the horses together,” Jack shook his head and hopped off his horse. “I’ll shift and lead us.”

“ _ No _ .” Ana and Jack’s heads flipped to Jesse at the sudden protest. “I ain’t travellin’ with a wolf.”

“You’ve been traveling with a werewolf this entire time,” Ana said. “Either form, as long as it isn’t the full moon, it’s still Jack. And you travelled with the pack when you were a child.”

“I can pretend that he’s still human if he’s not shifted,” Jesse snapped. “And I was a child, blind to the truths of wolves then.”

“Just like you can pretend that  _ you’re  _ still human?” Ana snapped back.

Jesse stared darkly at Ana, “What do you mean, Ana? Choose your next words carefully.”

“You haven’t aged in nearly two decades, your arm is hellfire yet it doesn’t consume the rest of your body, and I can  _ smell _ the taint of demons on you.”

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ insinuate I’m anythin’ other than human,” Jesse growled. “I’m cursed, that’s why I smell of demons,  _ that’s  _ why I haven’t aged.”

“If the demon didn’t make a deal with you, didn’t ask for your soul. You know what she took from you?”

“She took my arm.”

“She took your humanity,” Ana finished darkly.

“This is bullshit,” Jesse shook his head and looked at Jack. “Morrison, tell her she’s insane.”

“She’s not,” Jack said slowly. “McCree, she can see what you are more clearly than anyone.”

“ _ Bullshit _ ,” Jesse spat. “I ain’t nothin’ other than human.”

“Get off your horse, Jesse,” Ana ordered. She hopped off of her own horse and Jesse felt like he could see the faint outlines of wings that flashed behind her.

“No.”

“If you get off your horse, either you’ll prove yourself right that you’re just cursed, or you’ll have to accept the fact that you’re a demon.”

“I already know that I ain’t no demon,” Jesse tightened the grip on his horse’s reins. The snow fell harder, his eyelashes were clumped together with large white flakes despite his wide brimmed hat.

“Then there’s nothing for you to worry about,” Ana said. “Get off of the horse.”

Jesse scowled and hopped off the horse, “This is a waste of time, we need to get moving before the storm gets worse.”

“The storm’s already as bad as it can get,” Jack said. His voice was too damn casual for the tense situation they were in. But he was right, Jesse could barely see Ana a meter away from him. He wasn’t sure how they’d move forward in the dark woods anyway.

“Hold still,” Ana said softly as she approached him. Jesse stood as still as a statue as he stared at her and the soft glow that surrounded her.

Ana’s single eye flashed as she raised her hand and rested a single finger on the middle of Jesse’s forehead. She spoke a single word in Arabic and the world flashed in fire to Jesse. He was burning, flames coated all of him.

But despite the flames, there was no smell of burning flesh, there was no pain as his skin melted away in the flames. His screams came out silent as his throat was stripped away by the fire.

Flesh was replaced by solidified flames, much like his hellfire arm. Bands of dark metal created bones and a crown of horns on his head. Instead of feet, he had thick hooves, flickering flames imitated curling fur.

Jesse felt panic bubbling in his chest, “What trick are you pullin’ on me?” He half sobbed as he stared at the glowing flames that melted the snow around him. Steam billowed around him as flakes landed on him. “Stop with this illusion.”

Ana stared at him sadly, there was a soft blue glow that illuminated the snow that fell around her. Snow parted around her back in the shape of phantom wings. “This is no trick,” she said softly and ran the back of her hand along the side of Jesse’s face. “The reason the demon made no deal was because she stole your humanity from you.”

“This is a trick,” Jesse shook his head. “I’m just cursed, I ain’t no demon.” His protests seemed weak, even to himself. A long, thin tail snaked behind him and burned a trail in the snow and Jesse knew if he followed it to the root, it would attach to him. “I’m still human.”

“None of us are human anymore,” Jack’s ruined voice was quiet and mournful. “Is this our punishment for being hunters? Becoming the very beasts we had devoted our lives to slaughtering?”

“I’m human,” Jesse shook his head. “I’m— I ain’t anythin’ but human. I’m cursed is all.”

Ana clicked her tongue, “Jesse—“

“You’re the demon,” Jesse’s lips drew into a thin line and his firey eyes were wild. “That’s why the demon knew I’d find you— she set me up. You’re all workin’ with Akande. You wanna kill me just like how he killed Gabe.”

“Enough,” Jack’s snarl was just as soft as his words had been earlier, but it got Jesse to shut up. “We’re not working with Akande and we’re not here to kill you. Something happened when Ana died and she came back as some type of celestial, an angel or the like.”

Jesse glared into the distance, “Leave.”

“We’re not leaving,” Jack shook his head, he was uncomfortably close to Jesse. Close enough that Jesse could see how the muscles twitched unnaturally under his skin, like he was seconds away from shifting. Close enough that Jesse could see how his eyes—

“Are you blind?” Jesse was jerked out of his rage as he stared into Jack’s milky eyes. He hadn’t noticed before, hadn’t had any reason to think Jack couldn’t see. 

Jack averted his eyes, “Not completely in this form.” His jaw worked before he spoke again, “My face was ruined in the attack, somehow my eyesight was mostly restored when I’m unshifted. When I’m shifted, though, I can’t see anything.”

“Which is why he can lead us through the blizzard,” Ana continued on for Jack. “His other senses, smell, hearing, they’re all stronger than usual, I assume to make up for the loss of his sight.”

Jesse stared at Jack and the way the flickering hellfire of his body lit up Jack’s pale skin. “I don’t trust a shifted wolf.”

“And I don’t trust demons,” Ana replied. “Yet I trust you, and I trust Jack. Demon or not, werewolf or not, you’re good men.”

Jesse laughed, a brittle, bitter sound, “I ain’t been a good man in over twenty years, Ana.”

Ana stared at Jesse, her dark eye glowed with a soft blue light. He felt like she could see through him, see straight into his soul. He flinched under the heavy weight of his gaze, “I think you’re a better man than you give yourself credit for.”

“A better man would have let the vamps kill him rather than his husband.”

“That’s a guilt you’ll will live with forever,” Jack said slowly. “But nothing you do will will ever change the past. If you want to achieve the revenge on the bloodsuckers, we need to get moving and you need to turn back.”

Jesse stared at his hands, “I’m not a—“ he took a deep breath and shut his eyes. “I don’t know how to.”

“Go shift, Jack,” Ana said. “I’ll help Jesse.” Jack nodded and stalked off towards his horse. Jesse watched Ana warily as she knelt in front of him. “Close your eyes and focus on your breathing.”

Jesse clenched his jaw and tried to calm his ragged breathing. His heart — if he even still  _ had  _ a heart — hammered in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut and nearly jumped as Ana ran her thumb along his cheekbone. She spoke words he couldn’t understand barely above a faint whisper and Jesse felt the flames melt from him until all that was left was the body of a human and an arm of hellfire.

Jesse felt drained when he had turned back, like all the strength had been pulled from his body. It was unlike anything he had felt since he had made the deal with— since he had become a demon. He wanted to sleep, but knew they needed to get moving. 

Minutes after Jesse had returned back to a human form, Jack staggered out of the woods. Jesse held back a gasp of fear as he saw him. 

Jack was massive, easily around nine feet and wide with thick, corded muscles. He was the biggest wolf that Jesse had seen, back when he ran with the pack, most of the wolves hovered around seven feet. And he was littered in scars, deep and pale, a testament to the mauling that shifted him. But despite the scars that stretched across his body, Jack was a gorgeous wolf, with golden fur and eyes that were entirely blue with no pupils. Completely sightless.

It had been decades since Jesse had seen a wolf in such proximity that he hadn’t been planning on shooting with a silver tipped crossbow bolt. Memories of his childhood came flooding back to Jesse, of the way the wolves were gentle with him, the way he would sleep with fingers entangled in the silky fur of the wolf that found him, barely more than a baby, abandoned in the desert.

He forced the memories back. Werewolves were murderers, for all the pleasant memories he had of the pack, he had to remember the people they slaughtered. The way they saw humans as little more than prey. He replaced the feelings of mourning loss with the cold fury that had fueled him for over twenty years.

“Tie the horses together,” Jack said. His voice was inhuman, even more of a growl than it was when he was unshifted. Inhuman lips being forced to make human noises. “And tie one to me, I’ll lead us through the forest,” he wasn’t looking at Ana or Jesse as he spoke. His sightless eyes stared into nothing as he turned his massive head and sniffed.

Jesse swallowed around the lump in his throat as he grabbed a length of rope from his pack and tied his horse to Jack’s. His legs felt stiff as he walked closer to Jack and anxiety flared deep in his gut. He didn’t trust Jack,  _ couldn’t  _ trust him. He knew Jack, knew he was a good man. But he was a werewolf, a beast, a  _ monster _ .

“I’m not going to bite you,” Jack said as Jesse hesitated, almost like he could read his mind. “Hurry up and tie me to the horse. We’ve spent too long as is, we need to get moving.”

Jesse clenched his jaw and nodded. Cautiously, he walked towards Jack, rope in hand, and tied it tight around his muscular chest. Jack’s fur was silky and soft, he was so hot that the snow and air around him was almost steaming. As soon as the ropes were tied snugly around Jack, Jesse nearly ran back to his own horse. He wanted to be as far away from the massive beast as he could. 

“Tie yourself to the horse and sleep,” Jack ordered as he shifted around. “I’ll take control from here.”

Jesse wanted to protest, to argue. But as soon as he sat on the saddle of his horse, exhaustion flooded over him like a wave. Before he could even say a single word, his eyes drifted shut and he fell into a deep sleep.

\---

“How did the hunter not know he was a demon for almost twenty years?” Angela asked.

“Iunno,” Jesse shrugged. “Just really oblivious I guess?”

Angela raised an eyebrow, “Shouldn’t you know this stuff? You’re the one telling the story.”

“I’m making it up as I go along,” Jesse laughed. “But somethin’ somethin’ I needed a plot device and he’s a demon.”

“Blackwatch’s finest,” Gabriel grinned.

“Exactly, putting my trainin’ to its best use, tellin’ stories. Now, I’m gonna skip past their journey because it was basically the hunter passed out and them getting through the snow storm and then they got back to the town. It was completely deserted, even worse than what it had been decades before…”

\---

Buildings laid in crumbling ruins as Jesse, Jack, and Ana rode into Eichenwald. Ivy, brown and dead for the winter, crawled along stone buildings and roofs laid collapsed under the weight of snow. Jesse stared at the ruins around him and felt profound sadness. A single coven of vampires had destroyed all of the life in the town.

“Are you sure the vampires are still here?” Ana asked while Jack freed himself of the ropes. “There’s nothing for them to feed on.”

“There’s no scents of humans,” Jack said slowly, his massive head turned as he smelled the air. “No animals either, it’s just dead.”

“I was told I would find the vamps here on this day,” Jesse said slowly. “I think my answers will reside in the keep.”

Ana followed Jesse’s gaze to a large keep that resided in the distance, “And what will you do if they’re not there?”

“They’ll be there,” Jesse’s voice was firm, resolute.

The three made their way across the crumbling, snow covered streets. It was slow going, the heavy snowstorm left feet of snow on the ground, Jack did his best to clear a path for Jesse and Ana with his body, but even then it took ages.

Jesse wondered briefly what happened to the werewolves that had been there. But he knew that they were dead, there was no way that Akande was going to have let them live, both as beasts and those who helped him with his betrayal, his crime.

A raven cawed from atop a crumbling bridge, the first sign of life that they had seen. It cawed once more before it flew off of the bridge, towards the ancient keep.

“I don’t like that raven,” Ana said softly. “A bird like that shouldn’t be here.”

Jesse grunted in agreement, he wasn’t feeling particularly chatty. Not with the weight of memories and guilt that bore down on him like snow on rotting roofs.

Jesse held his crossbow tight as they rode across the ancient bridge in front of the keep. They moved cautiously, unsure if there were dangers caused by age hidden under the thick blanket of snow.

“I smell nothing,” Jack said slowly. “But there’s something in there, I can hear movement.”

“Vamps don’t smell of anything,” Jesse said. “They’re in there,” he hopped off of his horse into the deep snow. “Find an entrance, I want to get the slip on them while we still have daylight.”

“There’s an entrance this way,” Jack said and motioned with his head to the left. “I don’t know if there’s anything in the way, but I can hear that there’s at least some type of open door.”

Jesse followed the direction that Jack’s snout pointed in, “There’s nothin’ in the way, but I don’t see a door.”

Jack made a chuffing, choking sound that Jesse had learned was a chuckle, “Neither do I.”

“There might be a glamour covering it,” Ana said slowly as she slid off of her horse. “Take us to where you hear the open door.”

Jack nodded, “It’s this way,” he slowly moved through the snow. It clumped around his fur, his legs and lower belly were completely white with snow. Jesse followed in the path Jack made, cautiously walking along the snowy, icy cobblestones. Jack stopped in front of a swath of stone, “It’s right here.”

Jesse stared at the wall and back to Jack, “It’s stone,” he rapped the cold stones with the backs of a few fingers, it was completely solid. “Are you sure your hearing hasn’t gone bad?”

Jack growled softly, “I know what I hear, McCree. This is a glamour, an illusion. There’s no wall there.”

“So what, you want me to just walk into this wall?” Jesse asked.

“Yes.”

Jesse glared at Jack, “If this is some joke where y’all want to see me walk face first into a wall I’m gonna—“

“Just  _ go _ , McCree,” Jack nudged Jesse forward with his nose. Jesse stumbled forward into,  _ through _ the wall into a tight hallway.

Jesse spun around, there was no sign of a wall behind him, Ana and Jack were easily visible. As Ana made a move to enter the keep, however, a heavy door slammed shut, locking her out.

Jesse swore, “Is this door another illusion?”

“Jack and I will find another way in,” Ana responded. “Keep your eyes peeled, Jesse. The vampires want us separated.”

Jesse tightened his grip on his crossbow, “I’ll look around in here. Have Jack howl if y’all find anythin’.”

“Will do, be safe, Jesse.”

Jesse nodded, though he knew there was no way for Ana or Jack to see it. He slowly, cautiously made his way through the keep. His spurs jangled against the cold stone floors and rotting rugs. There were no signs of vampires beyond the initial glamour.

Jesse held his crossbow at the ready as he snaked through the halls. As he got closer to the inner sanctum of the keep, the more blood painted the walls. It was dark with age and was flaking off. Jesse forced his breathing to slow down. He needed to remain calm if he were to survive the vampires. 

Natural light gave way to torches the further into the keep Jesse got. What used to be beautiful stained glass windows were covered in stone bricks. There was no sunlight this far into the keep. The torches that replaced sunlight were fresh, barely used. Jesse’s lips drew into a thin line as he noticed that. Whoever was in the keep was expecting him. 

Jesse ripped a torch off the wall and held it by his side as he traversed the wide hall that lead to the sanctum. His footsteps echoed loudly around him and he made no effort to silence them. Whoever was waiting for him knew he was there already.

Jesse was near the sanctum when he noticed black, ash like stains on the floor and walls. He frowned and knelt down. He knew ash like that, had seen it countless times when he drove a stake through the hearts of vampires. But why would there be the ash of slain vampires in the deepest recesses of the keep they had made their lair?

Jesse stood up, realistically he knew that he needed to wait for Jack and Ana to find a way in, but something drew him to the old oak door that separated the torch-lined hallway from the keep’s inner sanctum. He needed to know what happened, why there was the ash of slaughtered vamps yet there were still glamours, why there were fresh torches that lined the wall. He opened the ancient door slowly, taking a deep breath as he did so. It opened smoothly, despite its age. 

The inner sanctum was dark, nearly lightless save for the little that came from Jesse’s torch and the open door. There was one other, small spot of light. On the other side of the room, a candelabra sat next to a throne.

On the throne sat a man dressed in black and red with a white mask on his head.

“Give me one good reason not to shoot, stranger,” Jesse growled as he raised his crossbow. The stranger said nothing, just sat there. Jesse noticed the raven he had seen earlier was perched on the edge of his throne. “I’m givin’ you to the count of three,” Jesse continued on. “And if you don’t give me a reason, this bolt’s goin’ straight through your heart.”

“ _ One _ ,” silence.

“ _ Two _ ,” the man on the through might as well have been a statue. 

“ _ Th _ —“ before Jesse could finish the word, all of the lights in the room died and the door slammed shut behind him right as the man on the throne— the  _ vampire  _ oh the throne— snapped his fingers.

Jesse swore softly, he should have shot right away. But he didn’t and he had to live with the consequences. Tossing the flameless torch to the ground, he tried to listen to anything that would give away the location of the vampire in the darkness.

Jesse’s arm provided a small amount of light. It was enough to illuminate maybe a yard around him dimly, but it also served to mark  _ him _ as an easy target, as if the vampire’s sense of smell wasn’t enough.

Jesse’s heart hammered in his chest as he tried to listen for the vampire’s footsteps. He could barely hear over the blood pounding in his ears, but he heard the slight billowing noise of fabric moving to his left. So without giving himself time to think, he threw himself at the source of the noise.

Jesse’s fist connected with something, but he was quickly thrown away. The vampire made no follow up attacks, just waited as Jesse spun back around.

“Who are you?” He growled as he let loose a shot from his crossbow aimed straight at the vamp’s dead heart.

The vampire didn’t answer, but somehow he dodged the bolt, inhumanly fast. He wrapped his hand around Jesse’s wrist and twisted. Not enough to break bone, but enough to force Jesse to drop the weapon.

“Where are the leeches that slaughtered my husband,” Jesse continued on and reached for a stake.

He made to throw the stake at the vampire, but was stopped in his tracks as the vampire said in a ruined voice, “They’re dead.”

“ _ Liar _ ,” Jesse hissed. “I was told I’d find them if I arrived here on this day. I was told I’d be able to slaughter them, get my revenge.”

“I killed them,” the vampire’s voice was deathly calm and quiet. “I staked my claim as king of this keep.”

Jesse’s jaw was clenched tightly and his words came out in a hiss, “Vampires who slaughter another are enemies of their kind, become hunted by humans and their own kind alike.”

“I know,” the vampire said.

“Then  _ why _ ?” Jesse asked. His rage had been pushed back by his own curiosity and the stake was held loosely in his hand.

“Revenge,” the vampire said as he stared at Jesse.

“I’m the only one with a claim to revenge here,” Jesse said. “These were my leeches to slaughter.”

“You’re wrong,  _ Jesse _ ,” the vampire said and Jesse felt panic boil in his gut.

“How do you know my name?” Jesse growled and tightened his grip on the stake again.

“Best me and find out,” the vampire replied and flitted back into the darkness. 

Jesse snarled as his eyes uselessly scanned the darkness for the vampire. He wasn’t there to play games, he wanted his revenge.

And if the vampires who killed Gabriel weren’t there, the masked one would have to make due.

Tranquil rage filled Jesse and calmed his pulse. He closed his eyes and put everything into listening. There was complete silence for minutes, only broken by Jesse’s slow, soft breaths. But then there was the quiet noise of the vampire’s feet slowly shifting.

Jesse threw a stake as he bolted forward towards the source of the noise. He heard a  _ thunk  _ and a flattering sound as the stake uselessly hit the wall. But that didn’t matter, as while the masked vampire was dodging, Jesse had already plotted his course to run straight into him.

The vampire’s head hit the stone wall with a  _ crack _ as Jesse charged into him. “Who are you?” Jesse growled and wrapped a hand around his neck.

The vampire was back to being silent as Jesse tightened his grip. “If you won’t answer,” Jesse continued and reached with his free hand to rip the vampire’s mask away. “I’ll find out for myself.” Jesse’s fingers wrapped around the edge of the vampire’s mask and in one fluid movement he ripped the mask free.

The color drained from his face as he stared down at the vampire, and his husband stared back at him.

\---

Jesse leaned back in his chair, “The end,” he announced with a smug grin.

“ _ That’s  _ the end?” Reinhardt asked. “You’re not gonna explain what happened after that? If The Hunter stopped The Traitor?”

Jesse raised an eyebrow, “I like to leave some mystery to things, plus it’s midnight and I gotta be up at oh six hundred. But, if I had to say what happened next,” he drummed his fingers on his leg as he thought. “I’d say The Hunter and his husband had some  _ real _ kinky, wild makeup sex.”

“Disgusting, Jesse.”

“Thanks for the input, Angela,” Jesse winked. “Anyway they found that they still loved each other and The Corsair and The Soldier managed to find a way into the keep after The Hunter’s husband dropped his glamours. They then…” he trailed off again as he thought. “Probably found The Traitor, his lifespan extended by siphonin’ the lives of monsters and killed him then lived happily ever after.”

“I still don’t see how this is a Christmas story,” Jack said.

“I bet The Hunter’s Husband has a real nice gift for The Hunter,” Jesse chuckled which earned him an elbow in the side from Angela. “Now I wasn’t jokin’, I’ve got a mission tomorrow and I’ve already stayed up too late,” he stood up and brushed crumbs from his pants. “Night, y’all.”

“I’ll take that as my leave too,” Gabriel rolled his shoulders as he stretched. “Ana, make sure Fareeha gets her gift from me.”

“It’s a shame you have to be away for the holidays,” Ana sighed. “But I’ll make sure she doesn’t open it early.”

“Appreciate it,” Gabriel grinned. “Happy holidays, everybody.”

Gabriel wrapped an arm around Jesse’s shoulder as they made their way out of the party. “Shame nobody hung mistletoe on the door this year,” Jesse laughed.

“I ripped it off after Angela hung it up this morning,” Gabriel grinned. “I didn’t want to watch Jack obliviously walk under it again this year with somebody and then have to watch him have to figure a way out of kissing whoever he was with.”

Jesse snorted, “But that’s the best part.”

“I think the best part is watching you weasel your way out of finishing a story,” Gabriel nudged Jesse with an elbow. “Tell me about the wild, kinky makeup sex The Hunter and his husband had.”

Jesse laughed, “I’m thinkin’ that it probably wasn’t that kinky. More of two men who loved each other finding that neither of them ever let go…”

\---

“Gabriel,” Jesse whispered as he stared into the eyes of his husband. “I saw you die.”

Gabriel shook his head slightly, “I wanted to find you, but I couldn’t bring myself to let you see what I became.”

“And you were prepared to let me kill you?” Jesse asked, his grip around Gabriel’s throat first loosened and then dropped entirely.

“You wouldn’t have ever known it was me,” Gabriel whispered. “I would have been a nameless vampire that you slaughtered in revenge for your husband, not your husband, the monster.”

Jesse shook his head and unsuccessfully tried to will his tears away, “We’re both monsters, Gabe.”

“You’re not a monster, Jesse,” Gabriel’s brows knit together.

“I’m a demon,” Jesse choked out. “I’m not human, I’m a fuckin’ demon.”

Gabriel stared at Jesse, “Okay, okay, we can find a way to fix this or—”

“There’s no fixin’ this,” Jesse shook his head. “I’m a  _ demon _ , Gabriel, you can’t just chop off this arm and expect that to go away.”

“ _ Or _ , we could find a way to live with this,” Gabriel finished. “Maybe this is what was intended for us.”

“Intended for us?” Jesse let out a choked laugh. “Do you know what I intended for myself? I was gonna slaughter the vampires that I thought had killed you and then I was gonna find the nearest bear or hunter or  _ whatever  _ since literally everythin’ wants to kill me these days and surrender myself to it.”

“Jesse—“

“I  _ never _ intended to become a demon and I  _ know _ you never intended to become a goddamned leech.”

“Well I’m not intending on losing you again,” Gabriel snapped. “Don’t you know how much I’ve missed you?” He hesitantly reached to cup Jesse’s chin in a hand.

“I’ve spent over two decades in mourning for you,” Jesse felt all of the strength leave his body as he leaned into Gabriel’s touch. “But this isn’t what I wanted for us.”

“I know,” Gabriel said, his voice was a faint whisper. “But I don’t want to lose you again.”

Jesse wrapped his fingers around the collar of Gabriel’s long coat, “I never even dreamed that I could see you again,” he whispered. “I don’t want to lose you again either.”

“Then we’ll figure something out,” Gabriel shut his eyes and rested his head on Jesse’s shoulder. “We always do.”

“Yeah, yeah we do,” Jesse nodded slightly and pulled Gabriel close in a hug, as if he were something that would disappear if Jesse let go of him.

They stayed like that for several long minutes, wrapped in each other’s arms. They fit together like they were meant to slot together into the strong arms of the other. Jesse kept whispering, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” over and over into Gabriel’s ear while Gabriel said, “I should have listened to you.”

At some point after they pulled apart from each other, Gabriel ended up leading Jesse deeper into the keep, down to an ancient bedroom. In it was a plush, freshly made bed at odds with the crumbling walls of the rest of the keep.

“Ana and Jack—“ Jesse started.

“Can wait outside of the keep longer,” Gabriel interrupted as he nosed around Jesse’s neck. “We deserve this.”

Jesse’s breath hitched as Gabriel ran his fangs along the crook of his neck, “I— fuck it, we do.”

Gabriel hummed and planted wet kisses along the column of Jesse’s neck, “Can I bite you?” He asked hesitantly.  “I want to… I want to taste you. It would feel good for you.”

Jesse’s mind flickered to the lessons Gabriel had given him when he had first joined. To the fact that vampires had a venom that acted as a potent aphrodisiac they used to sedate prey. To the fact that Gabriel had told him to stay out of range of a vampire’s bite at all times. But— “I trust you,” Jesse whispered as an answer. 

Gabriel immediately pierced the thin skin of Jesse’s neck with his teeth and the burning pain was quickly replaced by pleasure that set his body alight. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a low moan as Gabriel began to feed from him.

“You taste perfect,” Gabriel whispered reverently as he pulled back from Jesse’s neck, blood dripped from his goatee while he stared at Jesse with blown pupils.

Jesse tried to say something intelligent, make some smart retort, but all that came out was an embarrassingly out of breath, “Fuck me.”

Gabriel nodded and made quick work of Jesse’s clothes, throwing them into a disorderly pile next to the bed and fell to his knees in front of Jesse’s cock. He stroked it softly a few times which earned a soft whine from Jesse. 

Jesse clawed at the bed and whined even louder as Gabriel licked around the head of his weeping cock. It had been decades since he felt his husband around his cock, he hadn’t realized how much he had missed it.

The venom numbed Jesse’s mind, it put everything in a fog. All of his worries over being a demon felt so small compared to the idea of chasing the pleasure that only Gabriel could provide to him.

Jesse let out a low moan and wrapped his thighs tighter around Gabriel’s shoulders. He felt a cool puff of breath as Gabriel chuckled softly.

“Gabe,” Jesse groaned and arched his hips. Gabriel made a soothing noise as he kissed along Jesse’s inner thigh and peppered it with small bites. Each leaked more of the venom into Jesse’s system and left him a writhing mess. His head was so clouded over, he could only think of Gabriel. It was exactly what he needed.

“Missed you,” Jesse’s voice was slurred, the sharp nails of his hellfire fingers ripped through the sheets on the bed as he clawed at the fabric in an attempt to hold onto anything. Everything was simultaneously too intense and not enough.

“I know,” Gabriel whispered. Jesse couldn’t help the full bodied shiver that went through him. He needed Gabriel more than anything.

His wish was granted as Gabriel  _ finally  _ wrapped his lips around his cock. He nearly cried, but instead moaned softly and arched up into the cold wetness of Gabriel’s mouth. It was so familiar, but completely different at the same time. 

Jesse felt like he was swimming through molasses as he moved his hands from the bed to entangle his fingers in Gabriel’s hair. It was exactly the same as it had been decades ago and Jesse could almost bring himself to pretend that nothing had changed.

Gabriel flicked his tongue across the vein that trailed along Jesse’s cock and another moan ripped its way free of Jesse’s mouth. Everything was so intense, every touch set Jesse’s skin ablaze. Before he knew it, he came in Gabriel’s mouth with a scream of pleasure.

But his cock didn’t soften, his election didn’t even begin to flag. He found himself like liquid as Gabriel rolled him onto his belly and ran fingers around the rim of his hole. They were covered in slick that Jesse didn’t remember Gabriel ever pulling out.

“I love you,” Gabriel whispered as he slid a cool finger into Jesse’s hole. “I missed you so much.”

Jesse managed to find the presence of mind to gasp out, “I love you —  _ nngh _ — too.” Any other words were lost to a moan as Gabriel slid a second finger inside of him and began to slowly scissor his fingers, stretching Jesse, preparing him for his cock.

Jesse came for a second time as Gabriel nudged at his prostate, his entire vision went white at the feeling. It was on the precipice of pain and pleasure, but he needed more of it. 

“Gabe,” Jesse groaned and arched his hips back. “Need you.”

Gabriel’s breathing was heavy as he kissed along Jesse’s spine. Jesse could feel Gabriel’s hard cock pressing against his thigh as he added a third finger to Jesse’s hole, “Be patient, love,” he whispered.

“It’s been — _ aah _ — two decades,” Jesse groaned. “I need you inside me.”

“Patience, patience, patience,” Gabriel whispered like a prayer as he slowly massaged Jesse’s inner walls. “Don’t want to hurt you.”

Jesse’s breathing was uneven and shallow as Gabriel fucked him with three fingers. Gabriel set up a leisurely pace of pumping and curling his fingers inside of Jesse that had Jesse’s head spinning.

Jesse came for a third time when Gabriel wrapped a cool hand around his cock.

“ _ Fuck _ , Gabe,” Jesse groaned as his chest heaved. “Just fuck me already.”

Gabriel kissed along Jesse’s shoulders and flipped him over onto his back. He entwined the fingers of one hand with Jesse’s and wordlessly lined his cock up at Jesse’s hole. 

Jesse managed to bite back a moan as Gabriel slowly began sliding his cock into him, but Gabriel moaned loudly. Jesse tightened his grip on Gabriel’s fingers, everything was electric.

After several long moments of Gabriel slowly pushing in, he finally bottomed out in Jesse. Jesse couldn’t hold back his moan that time, he felt so damn  _ full _ , complete, like he hadn’t felt in decades. 

Jesse saw stars as Gabriel rolled his hips experimentally. His grip on Gabriel’s fingers tightened further while his broad, muscular chest heaved. Gabriel continued to slowly roll his hips, casually fucking in and out of Jesse’s tight hole. But then he suddenly picked up the pace.

Jesse’s breath caught in his throat as Gabriel slammed into his prostate. He threw his head back into the soft blankets that covered the bed as Gabriel continued the rough pace, as he alternated between barely brushing and directly hitting the sensitive bundle of nerves.

Gabriel wrapped a hand around Jesse’s near painfully hard cock and began to stroke, “Fuck, Gabe,” Jesse groaned as he bucked into the grip. “I’m gonna come if you keep doin’ this.”

Gabriel was breathless as he spoke, “I’m close, want you to come with me.”

“ _ Ah _ ,” Jesse breathed out as Gabriel’s thrusts became short and quick. His hand on Jesse’s cock was insistent, rubbing it in just the way that Jesse liked. And then, as Gabriel rubbed Jesse’s slit, Jesse came with a loud cry. Gabriel followed him soon after, slamming his hips flush against Jesse as he came.

They laid like that for several long minutes, chests heaving as Gabriel laid on top of Jesse whose cock had finally begun to soften.

Gabriel stared down at Jesse with heavy lidded, red eyes. Jesse stared back, all of his concerns faded as he looked into the eyes of his husband, “We’ll figure this out, Gabe,” he whispered softly.

Gabriel stroked a hand along Jesse’s jaw, “We will.”

**Author's Note:**

> Me when writing this: "If I shoehorn this into the Overwatch Christmas party nobody will ever know that I took an idea for a Halloween comic that I never got around to writing/drawing and ran with it for this prompt"  
> \---  
> I hope you enjoyed this, Gabby! This was fun to write :) Happy holidays!


End file.
